21: All That Matters

They say as you grow older, birthdays will become less and less important. It's not something you celebrate anymore--rather, it's more like a wake-up call that reminds you you have more responsibilities to bear and one less year to live. Long before I left home, I had realized that I would be spending the so-called special 21st birthday in Korea--the country I barely knew and was not really familiar with. I couldn't lie that I felt a bit sad though, knowing that my friends and families wouldn't be there with me and therefore I couldn't have expected less. But who would've guessed, the day that I wasn't really looking to that much  anymore became one of the best and most special birthdays I would always treasure forever.

Goodbye, Sweet July

After three consecutive rejections in the beginning of the year, my wish of crossing resolutions off my bucket list was as good as shattered. It's been a pretty tough first months of 2014 and, with every unsuccessful attempt in the following opportunities, I found myself standing on the edge of a downward spiral. I tried to console myself believing what they say about failing:  'Everyone has their own portion of failures. Spend yours while you're young'. And somehow it always works in cheering myself up. These failures, if anything, are merely a sign that I'm getting closer to success, and that resilience will be the only thing that separates me from achieving the ultimate goal. Well, at least this is the faith that always gives me the strength to hold on.

I was beginning to adapt with another-not-so-special year when life showed once again its beautiful quirk of fate. As the vision of having a glorious pre-third year break went away, there came July. Barely noticed, seemingly inconsequential, but undoubtedly deserved a highlight in my life. 

When I Grow Up

When I grow up, I want to be an architect.

     I used to hear this sentence echoing loudly in my ears everytime I saw spellbinding classic and modern buildings in big cities. Through my own eyes, I saw architects as ingenious designers who magically made palaces out of bricks and mortar. I don't know where this came from--none of my parents are artists--but art has always been my passion. It kind of startled me right away when I accidentally read the sentence again a few days ago from my own writing back then in 2010. Because somehow here I am now, studying economics by choice. And then all the old memories came up and I realized how so many things have altered over the past few years.